Mind the Gap
by twofortuba
Summary: Lily Thompson has been assigned the job of catching our dear Captain up to speed with the 21st century. Cameos from the other Avengers. Rated M for language and safety. Work in progress.


"Lily!" my supervisor barked at me as I placed my morning coffee down on my desk, still attempting to fully wake up.

"What? What?" I hissed, spilling some on a few papers. Whatever, you could still make out the words on the sheets and I was willing to bet the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D had seen far worse stains on their paperwork.

"We need you for a special project. Fury wants to meet with you. Follow me," he said with no further ceremony. Grumbling, I organized the mess on my desk before following dutifully behind. What could Nick Fury need me for? I worked for the behind the scenes parts of headquarters. I never got to see any of the real action. What could Fury possibly need me to do? Clean out his flash drive?

After being lead through two large double doors, I arrived in Nick Fury's own office. The place was decked out with every electronic gizmo and toy one could think of. Fury himself was sitting facing a large projection of a map in a plush chair. It was only when the doors banged shut that he turned around to face me.

"Ah, Lily Thompson, just the lady I was looking for. Please sit down," he said gesturing to an equally plush chair facing his desk. Timidly, I took a seat. I could count on one hand how many times I had come face to face with my boss. I wasn't even sure he knew my name until now. Clearing my throat, I pressed on.

"Um, Mr. Fury, if you don't mind me asking, why am I here?"

"I was just about to get to that," he said with a smile. "As you may know, recently we found the body of Mr. Steve Rogers frozen in ice. Miraculously, the man is still alive suffering nothing worse than being severely cold. Unfortunately though, Mr. Rogers is having a hard time coping with a more modern and quickly advancing world. That's where you would come in."

"I don't quite understand. What exactly would I be doing?"

"Your job would be to expose Mr. Rogers to what our time is like. Show him how much the world has advanced since his time. In short, he would just follow you around learning what it's like to be a citizen in the year 2012."

"And you really think he can learn so much from following around a glorified secretary?" I snorted before thinking better of the comment.

"Well you can't expect that I would have him follow you around to work?" he said with a wry smile. "You would be given a paid month off in which to help him adapt to living in the modern age. You would simply have to come to S.H.I.E.L.D once a week so we can check up on your progress. The ball is in your court Ms. Thompson. You always said you wanted to start doing some work in the field."

"S-sure," I stuttered, still in disbelief to think that I would be given paid time off, just to show some old relic what it was like to live in this time period.

"Wonderful! I thought it would be better if we got started as quickly as possible so I don't expect you to finish out the day."

"Um, wait! So, what does this mean? Does he follow me home or what?" I asked starting to regret saying yes so quickly. I had a tiny apartment that was small enough sharing with my roommate. I really didn't want to be stuck taking care of some old man also.

"That does come with the job description," Nick sighed. "I'm sure he won't be much trouble though. He can always take the couch. Now come, let's get you two acquainted," he said before getting up and marching through the double doors into the hallway. I sprinted to keep up. Take the couch? I knew Nick Fury was tough but I didn't think he was as unfeeling as to let some poor old man take the couch. Surely that wouldn't be good for his back or hips or whatever it was that annoyed old men like that.

I almost crashed into him he stopped so abruptly. We had entered a small, plainly decorated room. The only furniture was a bed, a side table, a dresser, and a radio. The walls were white decorated with only a picture or two. On the bed lay a young man who couldn't have been much older than me. It was clear the room had been lived in for several days.

"Steve Rogers meet Lily Thompson," Nick said by means of introduction. "She'll be your guidance counselor, for lack of a better term, for the next month. You've got a lot to learn about this decade Mr. Rogers. Start packing your things," he said before turning on his heel and leaving me alone with Steve.

"Hi," I began awkwardly despite our introduction. I certainly was not expecting him to look like this. Steve looked like he hadn't even reached thirty yet despite being somewhere close to 80. I had expected a wrinkly little old man but sitting here on the bed was a strong, healthy, and quite handsome looking young man.

"Good morning, Lily," he said politely.

"So, I guess gather your things and then we'll be off," I said stupidly. I had no clue where to begin with this man. I knew my roommate Jenna would have a field day once she found out we would have a new roommate for a month. It was sure to be an interesting evening. Steve finished packing relatively quickly and we headed out to my car for the ride back home.

I sucked my teeth. "Not even at work for an hour," I complained strapping myself in and turning on the engine. I glanced over at Steve who looked perplexed.

"It's a car. I know they had these back in your time," I said with a laugh.

"They did ma'am but they looked nothing like this," he said continuing to study the inside of the car. I stifled my laugh at Steve's look of wonder when he figured out which button controlled the windows. "I wish Howard could be here to see this," he mumbled to himself before shaking forward as my car began to sputter forward. Admittedly, my car was a bit of a lemon. It didn't quite run right but did the job for now. I didn't trust it to go any farther than to work and back home and even then I wasn't 100% sure it wouldn't just break down halfway there.

"Cars also never ran like this back in my time," he said looking slightly uncomfortable.

"That's because they're not supposed to," I sighed. "Even now. Don't worry we'll make it home though … I think."

Steve sat stock still the rest of the ride home as if afraid his movements would cause us to break down. It was definitely going to be an interesting month. "I feel like I should warn you I live with a roommate. She can be pretty loud and a little crazy but she's a sweetheart." I didn't quite know how to explain the colorful personality that was Jenna. Turning the key, I braced myself for when worlds collide.


End file.
